Of Nightmares and Holding Hands
by XylophoneGirl
Summary: It's at 2 o'clock in the morning when Sasuke is at his most vulnerable and Hinata is at her kindest. SasuHina oneshot.


Author's note- First one-shot for SasuHina, woop woop! This is set pre-timeskip, before the Search For Tsunade arc. A quick warning: lots of fluff towards the end. Hope you enjoy the fic :)

"Hinata-chan, get outta the way!" roared Kiba, shoving the Hyūga heiress so a kunai narrowly avoided her by mere millimetres. Hinata screamed as she barely managed to dodge another flurry of shuriken from the enemy ninja that had suddenly ambushed her team as they returned from their mission through a dark, dangerous wood. She could feel the withered arms of the oddly mobile trees trying to grab her as she desperately tried to fight back, but the number of foes surrounding her seemed to be mysteriously getting larger...

A yell suddenly erupted from Kiba and Hinata watched him helplessly fall victim to the leader's sharp sword, now covered with both her teammates' blood. "You're next," he hissed menacingly, and another scream burst from Hinata's lips as she stumbled trying to escape from the psychotic man now chasing her. Her feet caught Shino's unconscious body and Hinata tripped and fell, slamming her face into the sticky mud. She turned her head to see a crimson, murderous glare and a glimmering blade pointing at her throat, unable to do anything as the maniac cackled and slashed-

* * *

Hinata gasped as she leapt up from the mattress, panting heavily and glancing around to check where she was. _'It was just a dream, just a dream,'_ she reassured herself, wiping her sweaty forehead and making sure Shino, Sasuke and Kurenai were still there in the beds opposite her. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hinata began to snuggle back under the thick duvet; although the room was cramped and she was forced to share with the two boys and her sensei due to the high costs of the inn they were staying at for the night, the beds were surprisingly comfortable. Hinata sighed again as she remembered how excited she had been earlier when she had heard a member of Team Seven was replacing Kiba due to him being unavailable for their mission and her disappointment when instead of the loud, boisterous Naruto she had hoped for, the replacement was his brooding teammate.

'_Well, at least he gets on well with Shino- I doubt Naruto-kun would really,' _Hinata contemplated, remembering the brief but amiable words that had been exchanged between the two stoic, silent shinobi. In fact, Hinata had to admit that being on the same team as Sasuke had not been as bad as she had worried at first. Despite he initially seemed cold and intimidating, he had bothered to ask how she was when they met and had even made an effort to have a conversation with her, although it had not gone very well due to Hinata's nervousness and Sasuke's preference for communicating in one word sentences.

'_Maybe I should try talking to him a little more tomorrow," _Hinata thought sleepily as she rested her head on the pillow and began to close her eyes. Relaxing her muscles and her mind, she began her attempt to drift back to sleep, trying to tune out a weird, unsettling noise in the background. However hard she tried though, she was unable to ignore the strange sound which was beginning to get louder.

'_Wait... isn't that the sound of someone crying?' _Hinata suddenly recognised what she was listening to, heaving herself up from the bed and looking around in fright, urgently searching for the source of the noise until she froze in shock.

Sasuke was sobbing softly as his shuddering hands gripped the edge of his quilt, as if he was trying to steady himself. Stunned, Hinata could only stare in a mixture of confusion and pity at the whimpering boy. "S-Sasuke-san?" she called out quietly to him, silently getting out of bed to go over to his side. "Are y-you alright, S-Sasuke-san?" she asked again, gently prodding his shoulder only to receive no response whatsoever. _'He's unconscious,' _she realised quickly, panic swiftly beginning to settle in as Sasuke's sobs grew noisier. _'What should I do? Should I wake up Kurenai-sensei? Or should I just leave him alone?'_

"Why, brother, why?" Sasuke suddenly cried out, his voice desperate as it pierced through the silence of the room. "I...I don't understand...our parents, our clan..." he wailed, rocking himself back and forth as Hinata gazed at him helplessly, biting her nails in distress as she tried to think of a solution hurriedly. _'Maybe I'd better...um...'_

"Itachi, why?" Sasuke shouted all of a sudden, causing Hinata to shriek in surprise. Kurenai shifted uneasily and Shino grunted as he rolled over, both of them disturbed by Sasuke's yell and Hinata's reaction. _'Oh no, he'll wake the others,' _Hinata thought anxiously, her own eyes starting to water as Sasuke's constant weeping made her feel upset and useless, as she always seemed to end up being. _'No, I'm not going to be useless tonight; I've got to do something...'_

Prising Sasuke's fingers off the quilt, Hinata took a hold of his hand as she began to whisper gently in his ear, "I-It's alright, Sasuke-san, I'm h-here to help you." As he ignored her and continued to sob, she softly caressed his hand and shushed him, repeating the same words over and over: "D-don't cry Sasuke-san...pl-please don't cry Sasuke-san..."

It continued for what seemed like a thousand nights for Hinata as she held Sasuke's hand and soothed him with all the kind words she could think of. Sometimes, Sasuke would begin to quieten down and his tears would briefly cease but then he would suddenly cry out and the weeping would start again, leading to Hinata trying to settle him again. It was almost like a mantra for her now: _'Don't cry Sasuke-san, don't cry Sasuke-san, it's alright, please don't cry Sasuke-san...'_

Eventually, Sasuke's cries began to die down and the rocking stopped, although he continued to whimper softly. Hinata was too tired to notice however, her eyelids drooping, her words turning into unintelligible gibberish as she slowly succumbed to her desire for sleep...

* * *

As the sun started to rise, casting a subtle orange glow across the room, Hinata slowly opened her eyes as she woke up, realising drowsily what had happened. _'I must have fallen asleep...Sasuke-san!" _

Turning her head, a small smile crossed Hinata's lips as she saw him sleeping soundly now, his breathing more steady. _'Ah, he's calmed down now," _she thought gladly as she tried to disentangle her hand from Sasuke's- he was clutching her hand much more tightly than before and Hinata wondered why momentarily as she pulled slightly harder.

"Hinata-chan."

Hinata jumped in surprise, the blood rushing to her face as she stared at Sasuke who was suddenly breathing faster. "Are y-you awake, S-Sasuke-san?" she asked embarrassedly, noting the Uchiha's closed eyes and wondering whether he was conscious or not. Carefully and gently pulling his left eyelid, she squeaked as she saw his eye jerking rapidly in random directions, quickly letting go. _'Is he dreaming... about me?'_

"Hinata-chan," Sasuke repeated more softly, his cheeks flushing slightly as Hinata gaped open-mouthed at him in utter bewilderment. _'He's never called me Hinata-chan before, just Hinata,' _she thought, completely baffled as she finally managed to remove her hand. _'Why would he be calling me that?'_

Slowly making her way back over to her own bed, Hinata listened to Sasuke who was now babbling to himself, picking up the words 'like you', 'restaurant' and 'banana' in the process which puzzled her further. _'He must have started dreaming about something else," _she concluded sleepily as she sunk beneath the covers, taking one last glance at the genin sleeping opposite from her. "G-Good night...Sasuke-san..."

"Nana-chan," Sasuke responded hazily and Hinata giggled a little as she closed her eyelids, returning to sleep again... this time with no nightmares of scary ninja with eyes of blood, but instead with pleasant dreams of a stoic, dark-haired Uchiha.

* * *

I know Sasuke was OOC towards the end- my excuse is that he was asleep :P Maybe I'll write up the dream he was having someday as a side fic... Anyway, any kind of feedback is appreciated as always :)


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